HVM back to work after heartbreaking MCT loss

The Hopewell Valley/Montgomery ice hockey team isn’t going to let the heartbreak of a tough overtime loss in the Mercer County Tournament linger long.

The Co-op will be back on the ice Friday in the first round of the state tournament when its travel to face Ocean Twp. Puck drop is at 7:45 p.m. at the Wall Sports Arena in a Public C contest.

HVM (13-10-1) is coming off 3-2 loss to Princeton in the MCT final and continues to be one of the area teams playing its best hockey at the right time of the year.

HVM, which is seeded 20th, had won four straight before the MCT finals defeat.

No. 12 seed Ocean Township (14-4-3) is 7-2-1 in the last 10 games and one of those losses was to a very good Manalapan team in the Dowd Cup quarterfinals.

One of the reasons for the streak has been the play of sophomore Blake Echternacnt in the goal. The gifted Echternacnt had 57 saves in MCT final and kept the Co-op close the entire game.

There’s a trio of double-digit scorers for HVM led by Liam Yeoman with 16 goals and 13 assists, Matthew Greenspoon has 11 goals and 20 assists, Gavin Nau has 10 goals and 23 assists.

There is plenty of balance on

HVM and it will need the defense to shine once again.

Ocean Twp. is led by the state’s leading scorer in Alex Haar, who has 50 goals and 29 assists. The senior has 109 career goals and has 15 in the last five games.

He gets plenty of support from Aiden Mumm with 14 goals and 20 assists, Owen Mumm has 26 assists, also. Roman Leonardi is between the pipes and he has 500 saves on the season.

These two clubs are no strangers as they met in last year’s state tournament and Hopewell Valley/Montgomery came away with a 3-2 overtime win.

From 2017 to 2019 they’ve battled each other in the regular season and HVM has a distinct 4-1 advantage in the last five meetings.

The key for HVM will be contain the Ocean attack, limit turnovers and continue to ride the play of Echternacnt in the goal.

There is one other team of local interest on the ice of Friday as No. 17 Paul VI/Camden Catholic travels to face No. 16 Montclair Kimberley in a Non-Public battle.

MKA (14-3-2) owns a pair of wins over PVI/CC (6-9-3) this season, including a game in Egan Cup that was a 2-1 affair. CJ Compagnola leads with 18 goals and 19 assists, Steve Gresh has 15 and 18, and goalie Jake Lenox will be the key for PVI/CC.